A landlord firm that let a historic building fall into disrepair has been told to pay more than £8,000.

Stoke-on-Trent Council prosecuted London-based-Nour House Ltd and its two directors who pleaded guilty to breaching an enforcement notice by failing to repair 179 High Street, a 19th-century, three-storey brick building within Tunstall’s Tower Square Conservation Area. The case is the latest in the council’s heritage enforcement drive that has now taken action on more than 100 buildings across the city.

Planning enforcement officers found the property in a poor state of repair following a period of neglect and served an enforcement notice requiring the company to repair and maintain it. However, despite repeated attempts to engage with the owners, the required works weren’t carried out.

Nour House Ltd and its two directors have now been ordered to pay a total of £8,386 in fines, costs and victim surcharges.

Walking

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for growth, regeneration and transport, (pictured) says people in the city are sick of walking past buildings left to rot. “So am I,” he adds. “If you own a historic building in Stoke-on-Trent and you walk away from it, we will come after you.”

Gordon-McCusker explains that the authority declared a heritage emergency in Stoke because too many important buildings had been left to decline for too long. “Since then we have taken enforcement action on more than 100 buildings, and we are restoring 24 more through our Centenary Restoration Fund. This prosecution shows that where owners ignore us, we are prepared to follow it all the way to court.

“This building sits at the heart of Tunstall, yards from the Town Hall and the Clock Tower. It was left to fall apart by a company hundreds of miles away that decided it wasn’t their problem. It is our problem, and we have dealt with it."

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